Senators Mike Lee of Utah and Mike Crapo of Idaho are calling on Trump to quit the campaign so Pence can lead the ticket.
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But some, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan, stuck with Trump even as they condemned his comments.
“I just start kissing them”, he said.
Among senior party figures, Condoleezza Rice – a former secretary of state and national security advisor under president George W. Bush – said “Enough!”
“While I continue to respect those who still support Donald Trump, I can no longer support him”, said Sen.
Trump on Sunday tweeted: “So many self-righteous hypocrites. Watch their poll numbers – and elections – go down!” “You can do anything”, Trump says in the video.
“We don’t want to be hypocritical and say that we’re the party of family values but then support comments that are the total opposite of those family values”, political strategist Julianne Thompson said.
A couple of hours later, the campaign released a statement from his wife, Melania.
“And I moved on her”.
In damage control: Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani is one of few Republicans still in Trump’s corner.
In the leaked audio – which has come to be known as the Trump Tapes – Trump talked about his aggressive pursuit of women he found attractive and appeared to admit to sexually assaulting unwilling women.
Even a former Trump advisor, Barry Bennett, said he thinks Trump’s only shot at redemption – and a slim one at that – is a dramatic and public mea culpa.
While some Republicans expressed astonishment and dismay over Trump’s 2005 comments, those who steadfastly refused to endorse him throughout the campaign suggested their party knew full well what they were getting with the brash real estate mogul and reality TV star. “There’s still time to do it, but we have to actually do it”. Sources told CNN the first questions would be about the uproar.
Kaine called Trump’s behavior “outrageous”. Wisconsin voter Jean Stanley donned a shirt proclaiming “Wisconsin Women Love Trump” and called Ryan a “traitor” for denouncing the presidential contender’s remarks.
But she urged American voters to support him.
But they were also prepared in case Trump follows through with a threat to focus on Clinton’s sometimes troubled marriage to former President Bill Clinton. Before returning to a bank of elevators, he told reporters, “Tremendous support”. Whether those men will now withdraw their endorsements of him is yet to be seen.
Now, the Republican vice-presidential nominee and his priorities are facing a critical test as Donald Trump, staggered by his recorded vulgarities about women, careens toward the second presidential debate against Democrat Hillary Clinton – beginning 9am on Monday HKT.
The furor places enormous pressure on Trump to try to tamp down a crisis sure to spill into Sunday night’s presidential debate. Broaddrick’s lawsuit against Bill Clinton accusing him of rape was dismissed in 2001 and criminal charges were never filed.
Trump released a videotaped, half-hearted apology on Friday night amid the firestorm, in which he quickly pivoted to attacking Bill Clinton’s alleged abuse of women. Reported CNN: “Among the topics Trump discussed: his daughter Ivanka’s physique, having sex with women on their menstrual cycles, threesomes, and checking out of a relationship with women after they turn 35”. Giuliani says “both sides have sinned”.
“Given his perilous position in the polls, an OK debate wouldn’t be enough for Trump”, said Nate Silver, editor-in-chief of FiveThirtyEight. “From where I sat, Donald Trump’s vision to make America great won the debate”.
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The Trump campaign’s first move after the release of the lewd recording was to release a brief statement in which he described his words as “locker room banter” and added, “Bill Clinton has said far worse to me on the golf course – not even close”.
